Adjustable attachment for shirt collars



Feb. 12, 1952 J. V. SCHAFER ADJUSTABLE ATTACHMENT FOR SHIRT COLLARSFiled April 29, 1950 7 INVENTOR.

JOHN M SCHAFEI? ATTORNEV Patented Feb. 12, 1952 .ADJUSTABLEATTACHMENTroasnmcr COLLARS Q John Va Sehafer, Bronson, Mich. A plicationmaze, 1959,Seria1No;159,086

"This invention"relates generallyto'an' attaeh- 'ment for wearingapparer-andmere particularly isy directedto an 'fttaehmentadapted for{use with -'-'Praetical ly every 'person has; experienced-the"uncomfortable feeling-and uneasiness-that results from' Wearing-a-shirtof whichthe -collar-"is relatively tight onthe neck. Ofttimes=thechoking *e'ffect produced by a tightcollar on a-dress-shirt =is -s'uchf that the shirt "can no longer-he-used with satisfaction. -*Itis,-'"of course, recognized that a tlght-edl'lar'is ordinarily due toehrinkage-and/or growth-of-a-n*individual. j

One of the principal objects of the subject in- ---ventionis toprovi'de-an attaehment or-expander "t8sClaims. (0]. 2-141) .expand' orincrease its -size and thereby prolong the useful lif e of the shirt.

More specifically, the invention contemplates *theutilizationwfwanattachment-constructed of "resilient -materialand-which=isso'designed-and constructed that it-ofiersJust-sujficientresilience to automatically compensate forvariable-dimensionsthe neck bands ofcolla-rsand shirts and maintainalljportions thereof iri-propermcnform- "receive-3a button integral withithe q-eollarand *wherein an int'ermediate portion- 61? *the 'body -isprovided with a; hole or'aperture-ifor reeeiving 'the stem of adetachable collar button.

"A specific object -df the" invention is to provide -anovel-fietae'hable collar button constructed of plastic orthe-equivalent and havingsubstantially corresponding enlarged round endssecured yin *parallel relation by a -cylindriealstem. Merepai'ticularlyfiin this-respect' the deta-hable coll'ar button ispreferably of such charaeter ="that it may be rever'sibly conneetedtothe resiiienfibody "of 'the attachment-andthereby pro'metethe-"i an'geo'f adaotability of the attaehnierit toashirt collar.

Moreoverfi the ends =o'fthe detachable button are 6.5

fprferably' relatitely thima-nd of sueh -a size that zthfey serte tostabilize the body of the ea ement as well as thoseportionsof'theecBIIar which carry the attachmeI-it. a v

-A-no'ther object of the" invention: isbto preyide *a'unique method oi-assembling a buttono'fj the character just referred to with the body-of the -attahment,' which rhethod consists" in stretchin the body toenlarge the hole, inserting either end "of the hutton through the*--htle, and then-allowing' the body to return "to itsnormal -shapesothat'the stem of-t'he button will bere'eeived inthe hole and' theenlarged" ends-of the button' will be 1 "arranged on opposite sides ofthe'bo'dy. g

"A 'further object" of the-invention is to firovide an attachment of thecharacter' abovereferred to in-whiclr the hole oriaperture in theinternidiate portion ofthe body-is located at one sidekif the-'cen-terof' its 1ength andth irinererid ofone-"slot is' located closerto the 'hole' than" theinner end of the other slot. 'When'afietaeha-bleeo'llar button is received the aperture in "the bodyw if 'a n attachment-o'f this description, the attachment can beappliedto-atight'shirt-collar irran'yone 'of a, number ofpositions-andthereby-promote its range'of"adaptability-ofuse'with-collars-of various sizes. Thearrangementisprfer'ablysuch that when the attachment is in use, oneextremity df "its'bodywill overlie the innersurfaeeofa portion of theneck band and engage the *neck "or the wearer to assist in imparti ng'stability to the col- --l'aringeneralat its front. The'attaeh'mentantomatieally cempensates for wariahle dimensional factois in collarconstruction. 7

' =A 'stillfurtherobject-of the invention'is to provide a modifiedattachment in which thefbody is providedwitha plurality of holes ora'pertures between slets for the-purpose .of providing greateradaptability of application "of theattaehmnt.

*Qthe'r objcts= ajnd advantagesef the invention war-becameeyi'denirafterthe de'scriptfirffierim after set forthis considered incon junction wi'th the dra-wing annexed-hereto.

In the drawing; wherein l ike p'arts or elements are identified bythesamenum'erals:

Figure 1 isa front view' era dress :1 shift show ing one i type ofan=attaehment =-"e'mbedying "t-iifie invention applied thereto;

F-ig-ure *2 i is a i top view of i the assemblyilmstratedin Figure -l"looking in the"direction of the arrows-2 =an eese view of 'thE T attachmv a sidek elevational w iew idf'tttie n illustrated in' Figure 3; g j

' Figu'i e fi is-a s'ide elevational tiew showing the i 3 body of theattachment, the detachable button being omitted;

Figure 6 is a view showing the body of the attachment stretched to aposition whereby to permit entry of either end of the detachableReferring first to Figures 1 through 6 of the drawing, numerals l and 2represent the front setup facilitates rapid assembly of thecompondrawing.

panel portions or sections of a conventional dress shirt and 3 is acollar having a neck band 4. The neck band 4 is provided with aconventional button 5 permanently secured at one end thereof and abutton hole 6 at its other end.

The attachment generally designated 1 is constructed of adesirablevstretchable or resilient material such as rubber, andincludes, among other things, an elongated fiat relatively thin body 8and a detachable collar button 9. More specifically, the'body ispreferably of a uniform thickness and width withits extremities roundedas illustrated. The body is provided with a pair of corresponding slotsand II, eitherofwhich will receive the button permanently secured to theshirt. These slots are aligned and located on the longitudinal medialline of the body with the outer ends of the slots disposed equaldisstances from the ends of the body Each slot is generally rectangularin shape and is defined by apair of longitudinal marginal edges l2 andarcuate end edgesv I3.

The body 8 is also provided with a round hole or aperture Id of arelatively small diameter for receiving the cylindrical stem l5 of thedetachable collar button 9. This hole is locatedin the body between andin alignment with the. slots Ill and II. More specifically, it isdisposed at one side of the midpoint of the body closer to venience insecuring the button to the body and in applying the attachment thediameter of the end I5 is preferably made slightly smaller. The spacebetween the ends l6 and I1 is substantially equal to or slightly greaterthan the combined thicknesses ofthe body 8 and the extremity 6 of theneck band.

The unique method of assembling the button 9 with the body 8 consists inmanually grasping the extremities of the body of resilient material andstretching it more or less as exemplified in Figure 6 to elongate thehole l4, forcibly inserting the end [6 of the button through the holeand then allowing the body to return to its original-shape so that thestem will be received in l the hole and the ends of the button will bearranged onopposite sides of the body as shown inFigures 3 and 4. Thearrangement is such that either end of the button may be inserted intothe hole from either side of the body. This 1 When applied in thismanner the body 8 of the attachment will automatically conform to theneck of the wearer. Attention is directed to the fact that one extremityof the body 8, Or more specifically, that portion to the right of thebutton 9 as viewed in Figure l, is adapted to engage the neck of thewearer and thereby assist in frictionally holding the attachment inplace. It will also be noted that the-thickness of the end l6. of thebutton 9 substantially corresponds to the thickness of the neck band.Moreover, that the diameter of the stem l5 and the diameters of the endsl6 and I! of the button 9 are such thatwhen the attachment is securedinplace asillustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the attachment andportions ofthe neck band will be held or maintain'edin proper relative relationshipto prevent binding, pinching or buckling. The attachment may stretch tosome extent in use but anyforce created by stretching does not produceany material efiect on the neck of the wearer.

Although the attachment is preferably applied as described above, it is,of course, recognized that it may be applied to a neck band in adifferent way. For example, the enlarged end ll of the detachable button9 may be projected outwardly through the button hole slot 6 in the neckband and the button 5 on the neck band may then be inserted through theslot [0 of the body 8 of the attachment. 7 t e As pointed out above, theattachment may be applied to a shirt in more than one operativeposition. As illustrated in Figures l and 2 of the drawings, theattachment is shown in a position to obtain the maximum benefit of thedistance be tween the slot l0 and the hole 14 in the body 8. If thecollar is inclined to be too loose when the attachment is in thisposition, it may be turned and applied so that the detachable button 9is received in the button hole 6 of the neck band and the button 5 isreceived in the slot II. This reversal will reduce in some measure thesize of the collar or neck band because the longitudinal distancebetween the'aperture I4 and the button hole or slot l l is slightly lessthan the distance between the aperture it and the button hole or slot[0.

In practically all cases the use of one attachment will be sufiicientbut if necessary, a second attachment may be readily applied to theshirt as illustrated in Figure 1; c

Figure 7 of the drawing exemplifies a modified attachment in which apair of apertures l8 and 19 are arranged between a pair of button holesor slots 20 and M. It will be noted that the apertures l8 and I9 arelocated on opposite sidesof the mid-point of the body with the hole [8disposed a greater distance from the slot 20 than hole I9 is withrespect to slot 2!. With this unique arrangement it will be evident thatthe attachment can be applied to a collar in four. different ways toincrease and vary its size This feature and the fact that the bodymaystretch providesan attachment that has an exceedingly wide range ofadaptability.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that variousmodifications may be made in the same without departing from thespiritof the invention, and, therefore, I do not Wish to be understoodas limiting myself to the exact forms, constructions, arrangements, andcombinations of the parts herein shown and described.

I claim:

1. An attachment for the neck band of a shirt comprising an elongatedbody having a button hole at each end thereof for selectively receivinga button on the neck band, and a button secured to the body between theholes and adapted to be received in a button hole in the neck band.

2. An attachment for the neck band of a shirt comprising an elongatedbody having a slot adjacent each end thereof for selectively receiving abutton on the neck band, an opening in said body arranged between andunequally spaced from said slots, and a button detachably secured insaid opening.

3. An attachment for expanding a shirt collar consisting of a resilientbody having a pair of apertures therein and a pair of separate buttonholes provided in the body between the apertures, said apertures beingarranged so that one is closer to one hole than the other is to theother hole, and a button having a projection secured in one hole andcapable of being removed and then received in the other hole.

4. An attachment for a shirt collar consisting of a flat elongatedresilient rubber body having a button hole and a pair of aperturestherein with one of the apertures located closer to the hole than theother, and a button having a projection removably received in oneaperture and capable of being removably received in the other aperture.

5. An attachment for a shirt collar consisting of a flat elongatedresilient rubber body having a pair of separate button holes and a pairof separate apertures located between the holes, and a button having aprojection removably received in one of the apertures and capable ofbeing removably received in the other aperture.

6. An expander for a shirt collar consisting of an elongated flatresilient body having an apervided in the other extremity of the member,the

ture therein intermediate its extremities, a button arrangement beingsuch that the member can be turned so that the button on the collar canbe received in either slot.

8. A conventional shirt collar having an inner portion provided with abutton at its outer side and an outer portion provided with a hole fornormally receiving said button, a detachable connector comprising anelongated body interposed between and in conforming relationship withthe inner and outer portions of the collar, and fastening means securedto thebody substantially midway its length and received in the hole ofthe outer portion of the collar, said body also being provided with ahole adjacent one extremity receiving the button on the inner portion ofthe collar for connecting the said portions together with the otherextremity of the body extending inwardly for an appreciable distance inoverlapping engagement with the inner surface of the outer portion ofthe collar.

JOHN V. SCI-IAFER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

